4 ms·

Fantastic. I miss the BBS scene and I miss FidoNet. I've been writing a lot of Go lately and I sometimes daydream about writing a FidoNet-compatible mailer in

Fantastic. I miss the BBS scene and I miss FidoNet. I've been writing a lot of Go lately and I sometimes daydream about writing a FidoNet-compatible mailer in it. I wonder if there's anybody left to talk to.

AJ007 10y ago
The ubiquitous of communication today removes a lot of the magic of the BBS, at least to me. On the other hand, I think there is a compelling narrative for continuing simplification of interfaces. There is no reason that 90% of what is posted, read, and written on hn couldn't be totally done in a simple terminal interface. Mobile phones collapsed complex desktop interfaces down to a single column. Bots and sensors are making things even simpler than that. We are going from complicated back to simple again, at least from the user's viewpoint.
- mysterydip 10y ago
  I think what is really lacking today is small communities tied to a physical locality as in BBSes. Social media today focused so much on "contact anyone" that something was lost along the way. Sure you can make lists or subgroups, but the hierarchy is flipped. I think somewhere out there is a niche for a web/mobile BBS-esque site where people can sysop their own local communities and select from a list of features like conversations, events, games, mail, etc.
  - heywire 10y ago
    Agreed. I made quite a few friends in my middle and high school years via BBSs.
  - chrissnell 10y ago
    Also, the barrier for entry is so much lower now. Having a working modem and terminal program and the phone numbers of some local FidoNet BBSes was just so much harder to organize than an email or web client is today. The high barrier helped elevate the level of conversation on things like Fido's Echomail (akin to Usenet for Fido BBSes).
Johnythree 10y ago
I still have my licensed copy of DBridge. From time to time I plug in a DOS HDD and fire it up. Nostalgia plus..

AJ007 10y ago

The ubiquitous of communication today removes a lot of the magic of the BBS, at least to me. On the other hand, I think there is a compelling narrative for continuing simplification of interfaces. There is no reason that 90% of what is posted, read, and written on hn couldn't be totally done in a simple terminal interface. Mobile phones collapsed complex desktop interfaces down to a single column. Bots and sensors are making things even simpler than that. We are going from complicated back to simple again, at least from the user's viewpoint.

mysterydip 10y ago
I think what is really lacking today is small communities tied to a physical locality as in BBSes. Social media today focused so much on "contact anyone" that something was lost along the way. Sure you can make lists or subgroups, but the hierarchy is flipped. I think somewhere out there is a niche for a web/mobile BBS-esque site where people can sysop their own local communities and select from a list of features like conversations, events, games, mail, etc.
- heywire 10y ago
  Agreed. I made quite a few friends in my middle and high school years via BBSs.
- chrissnell 10y ago
  Also, the barrier for entry is so much lower now. Having a working modem and terminal program and the phone numbers of some local FidoNet BBSes was just so much harder to organize than an email or web client is today. The high barrier helped elevate the level of conversation on things like Fido's Echomail (akin to Usenet for Fido BBSes).

Johnythree 10y ago

I still have my licensed copy of DBridge. From time to time I plug in a DOS HDD and fire it up. Nostalgia plus..